After Panama stopped a North Korean ship en route from Cuba, the captain of the ship tried to kill himself, according to reports from the AFP this morning.
What could be so serious about this voyage that it could prompt a suicide? Speaking on Radio Panama, the President of Panama dropped a hint.
"The world needs to sit up and take note: you cannot go around shipping undeclared weapons of war through the Panama Canal," Ricardo Martinelli told Radio Panama listeners.
Martinelli has also been tweeting pictures of the ship's cargo:
Panamá capturo barco de bandera Norcoreana proveniente de cuba con cargamento bélico no declarado pic.twitter.com/MdWGfbXvVJ
— Ricardo Martinelli (@rmartinelli) July 16, 2013
In his tweets, Martinelli calls the cargo "undeclared military cargo” and says it was hidden in sugar containers.
Sky News' Mark Stone has been tweeting images that show how the cargo was hidden:
It's clear from this shot how well hidden the shipment was, surrounded by sacks of sugar: pic.twitter.com/6Uf8PFeZYO
— Mark Stone (@Stone_SkyNews) July 16, 2013